Challenging for Equity above all

Collaboration

There’s seemingly no end of blogs about WHY the Tories ended up back in Government; there also many many posts on social media discussing how disabled people are going to survive when the next round of Welfare Cuts come in; here’s my view…

At the time of writing we don’t yet know Who will be the Work & Pensions Minister, we do now that #McVey, in maybe the only good news of the election, being deselected won’t be there, and Mark Harper has gone as the Minister for disabled people but as for the others, we’ll have to wait? What I believe is no matter WHO fills their seats (and that of #IDS of course) things will not get any better.

I was SICK of the whole Carbuncle of Welfare Reform before May 7 – now we await with trepidation the announcements of the next round of proposed £12Million of Cuts; we’ve already read of the possible taxation of disabled benefits and making it harder for sick people to claim state aid by introducing “stricter” fit-for-work tests and/or tighter limits on eligibility, what’s next remains as yet unknown.

What I am convinced of is it is time now for ALL of us affected by the discriminatory actions of the Tories, to come together and Fight Back in Unity; we must ensure that whatever campaigns, petitions, demos etc work collectively to complement each other in the Battle for Survival under a Tory Government.

I believe it is time to TALK, for disabled organisations, social media groups, local projects etc, to communicate and work collaboratively; I’m not suggesting we all have to use the same approaches or methods but…we DO have to ensure we support the campaigns of others. Imagine if every Demo was coordinated across the UK – just as we did with ATOS? We KNOW this works and this is why I’m pleading with ALL groups leaders to do this; think -TOGETHER a petition with ELEVEN MILLION signatures could Not be Ignored?

Then consider what would happen if WE worked with all other discriminated Groups – We’d be Unstoppable

This series of Lets Talk has instigated a new campaign, I had no idea when I blogged about prejudice that a fellow warrior would pick up the mantle, taking it one step further with her analysis of challenging oppression through Law and Evidence.

But that’s the beauty of communicating and working together, it sparks new ideas about challenge and this collaboration has opened up a proposal or a new way of working; social media has allowed a small group of women from Cornwall to the Scotland to join forces, sharing our experience and knowledge to make a stand.

Women2gether operate on the basis of Inclusion, Collectivity, & Collaboration allowing participants to dip in and out of the project, both to share and develop our understanding in a safe environment. This does not mean it isn’t challenging, the nature of the project requires confrontation, but only ideals are questioned, never the person; and in this spirit we hope not only to achieve our goal, but also demonstrate an improved way of working.

We intend to demonstrate and submit a case to the ICC that their recent ruling on the case submitted by Olga and Tanya Yeritsidou – “It is alleged that the austerity measures introduced by Greece’s government constitute peacetime genocide and crimes against humanity” – is unlawful. We believe this judgement is not lawful as it condones and enables national and international economic abuse of women by failing to give our perspective equal weight and gravitas in coming to judgement; and it is around this argument we are building a case for judicial review.

We accept this project is immense and we also expect a variety of negative comments, therefore we are aware of the dangers of subconsciously adopting the apparent logic of dissenters; in order to manage this women2gether is open to all women, and men who believe in and support the rationale of an equal balance between the genders, on a national or global scale, depending on their particular areas of interest.

The principles of particular area of interest is the key to this project as previously mentioned; allowing individuals focus on their own areas, be that idea sharing, research, collation, report writing, speaking with ‘experts’ etc., without fear of being overburdened.

If anyone is wondering what is the point of this, or think it is a waste of energy, I’d like to share why I’m doing this – I’m Sick to death of being afraid to live and I’d far sooner die trying, than yield to the current levels of injustice being enforced upon me. If you can relate to this, let us know through commenting here, or tweet, direct message us via @JayneLinney/@Wildwalkerwoman/@DebbieSayers; we would love to hear from you.

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Thoughts on the crossroads of law, politics and society - for when 140 characters just won't do. This blog contains general information and commentary on legal matters. It is not intended to provide legal advice. This blog discusses the law in England, unless otherwise stated.